Latch for refrigerator doors



June 5, 1934.

F. MEYER 1,961,904

LATCH FOR REFRIGERATOR DOORS Filed June 21. 1932 36 A fif fi er 1i .2. f 0 1/ M if 5 fiifiq a '7 Z3 16) 3 19 ECU I? 74 I I- I [A I Q 74 K 18 Z9 .66 40 (-30 Z? 35 i INVENTOR ZNI? ikczww 24 M/ \I? 19 BY J A TTORNE Y5 Patented June 5, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE Frederick Meyer, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to Meyer Body Company, Inc., Buffalo, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 21, 1932, Serial No. 618,440

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a latch for refrigerator doors or the like and more particularly to a latch which is provided with auxiliary manually operable means for drawing the door tightly closed subsequently to its being latched for the purpose of preventing leakage of cold air or the like past the door.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide such a latch which is provided with an auxiliary lever that is so formed that upon moving the lever to its operative position it exerts a powerful cam effect upon the latching means in such manner that the latching means exert a powerful closing force upon the door and force the door into tight engagement withits frame.

Another object is to provide such an auxiliary lever which is provided with spring detent means for releasably supporting it after it has been operated to draw the door tightly closed such detent means preventing the lever from rattling.

Another purpose is to protect such detent means against breaking by housing them within the casing which carries the movable elements of the present invention. By this means the comparatively light and easily breakable elements are housed and. protected and the only projecting parts are the comparatively strong and durable handles by means of which the latch is manipulated.

Other objects are to provide such a latch which is extremely simple and inexpensive in construction and composed of few parts; is extremely simple and quick to operate; is durable in construc tion and will stand up for a long time under conditions of severe and constant use without getting out of order and is compact in construction and attractive in appearance so that it formsa desirable adjunct to refrigerator truck bodies in which the design and appearance is a prime consideration.

In the accompanying drawing:

. Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through the door of a refrigerator truck body and an adjacent portion of its frame and showing the same latched by a latch embodying my invention. In this view the auxiliary lever for drawing the door closed is shown in the position in which it is about to be operated for drawing the door tightly closed. 7

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the latch shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 44, Fig. 2.

In the following description similar characters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawing.

The latch is shown as secured to the body 5 and door 6 of a refrigerator truck body although it will be understood that the latch can be employed wherever it is desirable to not only latch a door closed but also to provide means for conveniently forcing the door into firm engagement with its frame in addition to being latched. The body 5 can be of any suitable construction but is shown as having wooden sheathing 7 and a wooden lining8 between which a layer of insulating material 9 is interposed. At the edge forming the door opening the body is formed to provide a frame 10. The door 6 likewise is provided with a sheathing 11 and a lining 12 on opposite sides of insulation 13 in the usual and well known manner. The catch 14 for the latch 15 is mounted on the body 5. This catch 14 can be of any suitable form and is shown as sucured by three bolts 16 and is formed to provide an undercut tooth 17, the end face 18 of which is inclined so that when the door 6 is slammed shut the dog or tooth of the latch 15 will ride along the inclined face 18 and latch under the catch 17.

The latch, indicated generally at 15, includes a supporting body 19 which is U-shaped in cross section and at its base is provided with a pair of outwardly extending flanges 20 which are bolted to the door 6 by means of bolts 21, or in any other suitable manner. The latch dog 22 is provided with a rounded face 23 which is adapted to engage the inclined face 18 of the catch when the door is slammed shut and this latch dog 22 is formed integrally with a latch lever 24, this lever extending along the inner wall of the casing 19 and terminating in a handle 25. This handle extends outwardly from the side of the casing 19 opposite from the catch 14 and is formed in any suitable manner so that it can be conveniently gripped in opening the door.

Adjacent the latch tooth 22 the latchlever 24 is formed to provide a perpendicular extension 26 through the outer end of which a pivot pin 2'? 100 passes. This pivot pin 27 is suitably held at its ends in the legs of the U-shaped housinglQ. The side of the extension 26 opposite from the latch dog 22 is inclined as indicated at 28, this incline forming a cam face as will be hereinafter more 105 fully described. The latch lever 24 is urged into its operative position by a helical compression spring 29 which is arranged between the two legs of the U-shaped housing 19 and bears at one end against the outer side of the lever 24 and at its 110 other end bears against a cross bar 30 which connects the outer ends of the two legs of the U- shaped housing 19 at the opposite corner from the latch tooth 22.

From the construction as described it is apparent that when the door is slammed shut, the rounded face of the latch tooth 22 strikes the inclined face 18 of the catch tooth and thereby forces the latch lever 24 to swing about its pivot pin 2'7 and against the resistance of the spring 29 until the latch dog 22 rides under the abrupt face 1'7 of the catch tooth. Thereafter the spring 29 will force the latch lever 2 so that the latch dog 22 is caused to ride under the abrupt face 17 of the catch tooth and hold the door in its closed position. In refrigerator doors, however, it is desirable to provide auxiliary means for drawing the door tightly closed. Also to secure the required closing force in so drawing the deer closed it is desirable to have a separate manually operable lever for accomplishing this result. According to the present invention this closing is effected by an auxiliary lever 35 which is pivoted to a cross pin 36, this cross pin being arranged substantially centrally within the U-shaped housing 19, and the handle 37 of this lever projects outwardly from the casing 19 in the space between the pivot pin 2'7 of the latch lever 24 and the cross bar 30 of the casing 19. At its inner end this auxiliary lever is formed to provide a lateral rounded extension 38 which is adapted to engage the inclined cam face 28 of the lateral extension 26 on the latch lever 24. In the normal inoperative position of the latch lever 35 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 this extension 38 is arranged adjacent the pivot pin 27 and hence does not interfere with the free operation of the latch lever 24 in either opening or closing the door. After the door has been latched shut, however, the lever 35 is moved from the inoperative position, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, to its operative position, shown by full lines in the same figure. This movement of the extension 38 engages the inclined face of the extension 26 and forces this extension toward the catch 14. This movement causes the latch lever to swing about its pivot 2'7 and consequently causes the latch dog 22 to bear against the abrupt face 1'7 of he catch tooth and thereby force the door tightly closed. It will also be noted that the auxiliary lever forms a lock for the latch which prevents the latch from accidentally becoming disengaged. When the latch lever 35 is in its inoperative position it is desirable to provide some detent means for holding it in this position so that it dces not swing and interrupt the free operation of the latch lever 24. For this purpose a detent spring 39 is provided. This detent spring is secured to the inner side of the bar 30 by the compression spring 29 and is formed to provide a V-shaped extension which is adapted to engage a slot or opening 40 in the auxiliary lever 35 in such manner that when the auxiliary lever is moved to the dotted line position in Fig. 3 the V-shaped extension of the detent spring 39 rides into the slot 40 and holds the auxiliary lever 35 in its inoperative position until it is manually moved to its operative position as above described.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the present invention provides a very simple, inexpensive and durable latch having an auxiliary lever by means of which the latch means are operated to force the door closed. This auxiliary lever also forms a lock for the latch. It is also apparent that the auxiliary lever is reliably latched in its inoperative position and while easy to manipulate exerts a powerful closing force upon the door. It is also apparent that all delicate parts of the mechanism are adequately protected and will not become broken under normal working conditions. The latch is also extremely simple and will not get out of order through continuous use.

I claim a my invention:

1. A latch for holding two relatively movable members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a bracket mounted on the other of said members, a latch bar pivoted to said bracket and adapted, upon closing said members, to engage and be caught by said catch, spring means interposed between said latch and bracket and holding said latch bar against the opposing face of said catch, and a manually operable lever pivoted to said bracket at a point remote from the pivotal connection for said latch bar and adapted to engage and force said latch bar into firmer engagement with the opposing face of said catch thereby to draw said members into firm engagement with one another.

2. A latch for holding two relatively movable members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a bracket mounted on the other of said members, a latch bar arranged adjacent the base of said bracket and having a laterally outwardly projecting arm, pivot means connecting the end of said arm with said bracket, said latch bar being adapted, on closing said members, to

engage and be caught by said catch, spring means interposed between said latch bar and bracket and holding said latch bar against the opposing face of said catch and a manually operable lever pivoted to said bracket at a point remote from the pivotal connection for said latch bar and having a cam face adapted to engage said arm and force said latch bar into firmer engagement with the opposing face of said catch thereby to draw said members into firm engagement with one another.

3. A latch for holding two relatively movable members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a bracket mounted on the other of said members, a latch bar pivoted at its center to said bracket and having one end adapted, upon closing'said members, to engage and be caught by said catch, spring means interposed between the opposite end of said latch bar and said bracket and holding the latching end of said latch bar against the opposing face of said catch and manually operable means pivoted to said bracket at a point intermediate said spring and the latching end of said latch bar and adapted to engage said latch bar and force it into firmer engagement with the opposing face of said catch thereby to draw said members into firm engagement with one another.

4. A latch for holding two relatively movable members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a bracket mounted on the other of said members, a latch bar pivoted at its center to said bracket and having one end adapted, upon closing said members, to engage and be caught 9 point intermediate said spring and the pivotal mounting for said latch bar and having a cam face adapted to engage the adjacent part of said latch bar and force it into firmer engagement with the opposing face of said catch thereby to draw said members into firm engagement with one another.

5. A latch for holding two relatively movable members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a U-shaped bracket mounted on the other of said members and having its legs projecting outwardly therefrom, a latch bar arranged along the base of said bracket and having an arm projecting laterally outward from the center of said latch bar and enclosed between said legs, pivot means connecting the end of said arm with said legs of the bracket, one end of said latch bar being adapted, on closing said members, to engage and be caught by said catch, spring means interposed between the opposite end of said latch bar and the legs of said bracket and holding said latch bar against the opposing face of said catch and a manually operable lever pivoted between the legs of said bracket at a point between said spring and the pivot for said arm and having a cam face adapted to engage said arm and force said latch bar into firmer engagement with the opposing face of said catch thereby to draw said members into firm engagement with one another.

6. A latch for holding two relatively movable members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a spring latch mounted on the other of said members and adapted to engage and be caught by said catch, and a manually operable lever pivoted adjacent said latch and having a cam face adapted to engage said latch and force it into firmer engagement with said catch and thereby draw said relatively movable members into firm engagement with one another, said cam face in the opposite extreme positions of said lever being free from said latch.

'7. A latch for holding two relatively movable, members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a spring latch mounted on the other of said members and adapted to engage and be caught by said catch, a manually operable lever pivoted adjacent said latch and having a cam face adapted to engage said latch and force it into firmer engagement with said catch and thereby draw said relatively movable members into firm engagement with one another, said cam face in the opposite extreme positions of said lever being free from said latch and means for latching said lever in one of said extreme positions.

8. A latch for holding two relatively movable members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a spring latch mounted on the other of said members and adapted to engage and be caught by said catch, manually operable means for moving said latch into firmer engagement with said catch thereby to draw said relatively movable members into firm engagement with one another and means for latching said manually operable means in position after said means have been moved to draw said members into firm engagement with one another.

9. A latch for holding two relatively movable members in engagement with one another, by engaging a catch mounted on one of said members, comprising a U-shaped bracket mounted on the other of said members and having its legs projecting outwardly therefrom, a latch bar arranged along the base of said bracket and having an arm projecting laterally outward from the center of said latch bar and enclosed between said legs, pivot means connecting the end of said arm with said legs of the bracket, one end of said latch bar being adapted, on closing said members, to engage and be caught by said catch, spring means interposed between the opposite end of said latch 110 bar and the legs of said bracket and holding said latch bar against the opposing face of said catch, a manually operable lever pivoted between the legs of said bracket at a point between said spring and the pivot for said arm and having a cam face adapted to engage said arm and force said latch bar into firmer engagement with the opposing face of said catch thereby to draw said members into firm engagement with one another, and means for holding said lever in one extreme position, comprising a leaf spring secured to said bracket and having a latching engagement with an opening provided in said lever. 

